Apparent Motion in Music?

Abstract

A great deal of the motion perceived in music is apparent rather than real. On the piano, for example, no continuous movement in frequency occurs between two sequentially sounded tones. Though a listener may perceive a movement from the first tone to the second, each tone merely begins and ends at its stationary position on the frequency continuum. Recent advances in the modeling of apparent- motion effects in vision provide a starting point for the modeling of the strong apparent- motion effects in music. An adaptation of the Grossberg- Rudd model of apparent motion in vision, when given input representing the strengths of pitch sensations positioned along a one- dimensional frequency continuum, can simulate important musical phenomena of auditory stream segregation, van Noorden's melodic- fission/ temporal- coherence boundaries, various Gestalt effects, aspects of dynamic attending, and Narmour's predicted categorical distinction between musical intervals implying a continuation and those implying a reversal of direction.

ARTSTREAM: a neural network model of auditory scene analysis and source segregation

“…Streaming percepts in music perception have been simulated by Gjerdingen (1994), who has exploited similarities between apparent motion in vision and streaming in audition. Gjerdingen notes that "a great deal of the motion perceived in music is apparent rather than real.…”

“…Finally the ARTSTREAM model will be described and illustrative streaming simulations presented. In the Discussion section, ARTSTREAM will be compared with the Gjerdingen (1994) analysis of streaming percepts in music, which was based upon the motion perception model of Rudd (1989, 1992). Gjerdingen's analysis quantifies an analogy between visual motion perception and auditory streaming that several authors have noted; see for a review.…”

The capacity for music: What is it, and what’s special about it?

“…Second, melodic perception is subject to the gestalt principle of good continuation. A melody moving discretely from one pitch to another is perceptually parallel to visual apparent motion; a larger interval corresponds to a greater distance of apparent motion (Gjerdingen, 1994). A pitch that is a large interval away from the melody's surrounding context is perceptually segregated, especially if it can be connected to other isolated pitches in the same range (Bregman, 1990).…”

Tone and Voice: A Derivation of the Rules of Voice-Leading from Perceptual Principles

“…Similarly, an auditory stream is most apt to be perceived when the pitch-time trajectory conforms to how real (mechanical or physiological) sound sources behave. In short, it may be that Fitts' law provides the origin for the common musical metaphor of "melodic motion" (see also Gjerdingen, 1994).…”